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"...breathing
and movement
exercises can help one tap the fundamental energies of the universe..."
Qigong
is an aspect of Traditional Chinese medicine
involving the coordination of different breathing patterns with various
physical postures and motions of the body. Qigong is mostly taught for health maintenance
purposes, but there are also some who teach it as a
therapeutic intervention. Various forms of traditional qigong are also
widely taught in conjunction with Chinese martial arts, and are
especially prevalent in the advanced training of what are known as the Neijia,
or internal martial arts where the object is the full mobilization and
proper coordination and direction of the energies of the body as they
are applied to some target.
There are currently
more
than
3,300 different styles and schools of
qigong.
Qigong relies on the traditional Chinese belief that the body has
something that might be described as an "energy field" generated and
maintained by the natural respiration of the body, known as qi (this is
analogous to Prana and Pranayama in Yoga). Qi means breath or
gas in Chinese, and, by extension, the energy produced by breathing
that keeps us alive; gong
means work applied to a discipline or the resultant level of technique.
Qigong is then "breath work"
or the art of managing one's breathing in
order to achieve and maintain good health, and (especially in the
martial arts) to enhance the energy mobilization and stamina of the
body in coordination with the physical process of
respiration.
Attitudes
toward the
scientific basis (or lack of it) for qigong
vary markedly. Most Western medical practitioners, many practitioners
of traditional Chinese medicine,
as well as the Chinese government view
qigong as a set of breathing and movement exercises, with possible
benefits to health through stress reduction and exercise. Others see
qigong in more metaphysical terms, claiming that breathing and movement
exercises can help one tap the fundamental energies of the universe.
"If
you want to be
healthy and live to 100, do QiGong."
As recently seen on
Oprah, Qigong can help reduce stress.
On November 1, 2007 the first of
a two-part series by Dr. Oz aired. Oz was asked out of all the health
practices that one could do, what was the one practice that he would
choose and recommend people practice to stay healthy. His response: If
you want to be healthy and live to 100, do QiGong. He added that Qigong reverses the aging
process. The second part of the Oprah series
was on Monday, November 6, 2007. Dr. Oz interviewed a couple who had
been very over weight with many illness. Previously, he started them
onto a program of better nutrition and a Qigong practice. They now have
lost much of the weight, improved their energy, decreased most
medication and reversed their aging. These improvements are attributed
to Qigong and eating better.sitemap |
Health
Preservation Series
Qigong Video Instruction
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